Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Content Adviser Marjan Eggermont Senior Instructor Schulich School of Engineering Calgary Alberta Canada Reading Adviser Marla Conn ReadAbility Inc Design The Design Lab Photo Credits Cover and page 3 kangshutters Shutterstock Inc cover inset Holger Wulschlaeger Shutterstock Inc page 4 Yuriy Rudyy Shutterstock Inc page 6 IM_photo Shutterstock Inc page 7 Mila Semenova Shutterstock Inc page 9 Nickolay Khoroshkov Shutterstock Inc page 10 vagabond54 Shutterstock Inc page 13 rickyd Shutterstock Inc page 14 dotshock Shutterstock Inc page 16 Pan Xunbin Shutterstock Inc page 17 Volodymyr Krasyuk Shutterstock Inc page 19 Daleen Loest Shutterstock Inc page 20 PRNewsFoto Qualcomm MEMS Technologies Inc Inventec Corporation page 21 Barnaby Chambers Shutterstock Inc page 23 tkemot Shutterstock Inc page 25 Stuart Jenner Shutterstock Inc page 27 Ensuper Shutterstock Inc page 29 Jeff Schultes Shutterstock Inc Copyright 2014 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gregory Josh From butterfly wings to display technology by Josh Gregory pages cm Innovations from Nature Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62431-754-5 lib bdg ISBN 978-1-62431-766-8 pdf ISBN 978-1-62431-760-6 pbk ISBN 978-1-62431-772-9 e-book 1 Flat panel displays Juvenile literature 2 Butterflies Juvenile literature 3 Biomimicry Juvenile literature 4 Inventions Juvenile literature I Title TK7882 I6G74 2014 621 3815'422 dc23 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Please visit www p21 org for more information 2013030377 Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics Inc January 2014
Chapter One Imitating Nature Chapter Two Wondrous Wings Chapter Three From the Skies to the Screen Chapter Four A Colorful Future Chapter Five Daring Display Developers Glossary For More Information Index About the Author 4 9 14 20 25 30 31 32 32 INNOVATIONS FROM NATURE
4 It is very likely that you looked at an electronic display screen sometime recently Maybe you opened up your laptop this morning to check your e-mail or Twitter Or perhaps you used your smartphone to send a text message or play your favorite video game From the portable screens on these devices to the huge screens used for television sets or advertising billboards electronic displays are almost everywhere we look today CHAPTER ONE From Butterfly Wings to Display Technology Electronic display screens are an important part of most people’s everyday routines
Imitating Nature 5 Display technology is better now than it has ever been The earliest displays could only show grainy black and-white images They were heavy and expensive Modern screens are capable of showing incredibly sharp detailed images using every color the eye can see You can even carry one in the palm of your hand However there is still room for improvement Some of today’s top innovators are working to push display technology even farther Throughout history scientists and engineers have worked to create new products and ways of doing things Some of these inventions such as medicines and energy sources have solved major problems in the world Others such as household appliances and new modes of transportation have made life simpler or easier The people who create these inventions are amazing innovators They think creatively and try to look at problems in new ways Their inspiration for new innovations can come from almost anywhere Today more and more scientists and engineers are looking toward nature as a source of ideas for their projects They examine the way a plant or animal does something Then they try to duplicate the natural process using the materials and technology available to them This method of innovating is known as biomimicry Inventions created using biomimicry are INNOVATIONS FROM NATURE
